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-To get started, ensure you have the latest JDK installed, and download Maven from:
-
-  http://maven.apache.org/
-
-Then run "mvn clean package" to compile the software. You can also run "mvn site:site" to generate a website with
-useful information like JavaDocs. The outputs are under the target/ directory.
-
-Alternatively, just import the project using your IDE. IntelliJ has Maven integration once you tell it where to
-find your unzipped Maven install directory.
-
-Now try running one of the example apps:
-
-  cd examples
-  mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.google.bitcoin.examples.ForwardingService -Dexec.args="<insert a bitcoin address here>"
-
-It will download the block chain and eventually print a Bitcoin address. If you send coins to it,
-it will forward them on to the address you specified. Note that this example app does not use
-checkpointing, so the initial chain sync will be pretty slow. You can make an app that starts up and
-does the initial sync much faster by including a checkpoints file; see the documentation for
-more info on this.
-
-Now you are ready to follow the tutorial:
-
-   https://bitcoinj.github.io/getting-started
-
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+Build status: [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/bitcoinj/bitcoinj.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/bitcoinj/bitcoinj)
+
+### Welcome to bitcoinj
+
+The bitcoinj library is a Java implementation of the Bitcoin protocol, which allows it to maintain a wallet and send/receive transactions without needing a local copy of Bitcoin Core. It comes with full documentation and some example apps showing how to use it.
+
+### Technologies
+
+* Java 6+
+* [Maven 3+](http://maven.apache.org) - for building the project
+* [Orchid](https://github.com/subgraph/Orchid) - for secure communications over [TOR](https://www.torproject.org)
+* [Google Protocol Buffers](https://code.google.com/p/protobuf/) - for use with serialization and hardware communications
+
+### Getting started
+
+To get started, it is best to have the latest JDK and Maven installed. The HEAD of the `master` branch contains the latest development code and various production releases are provided on feature branches.
+
+#### Building from the command line
+
+To perform a full build use
+```
+mvn clean package
+```
+You can also run
+```
+mvn site:site
+```
+to generate a website with useful information like JavaDocs.
+
+The outputs are under the `target` directory.
+
+#### Building from an IDE
+
+Alternatively, just import the project using your IDE. [IntelliJ](http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/) has Maven integration built-in and has a free Community Edition. Simply use `File | Import Project` and locate the `pom.xml` in the root of the cloned project source tree.
+
+### Example applications
+
+These are found in the `examples` module.
+
+#### Forwarding service
+
+This will download the block chain and eventually print a Bitcoin address that it has generated.
+
+If you send coins to that address, it will forward them on to the address you specified.
+
+```
+  cd examples
+  mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.google.bitcoin.examples.ForwardingService -Dexec.args="<insert a bitcoin address here>"
+```
+
+Note that this example app *does not use checkpointing*, so the initial chain sync will be pretty slow. You can make an app that starts up and does the initial sync much faster by including a checkpoints file; see the documentation for
+more info on this technique.
+
+### Where next?
+
+Now you are ready to [follow the tutorial](https://bitcoinj.github.io/getting-started).